POV George alias Flesh from Cultivation Humanhood of Mountains intersecting Abyss

We were mainly cutting grass around. From the morning to afternoon. Some guys went to city for shopping and bought two lawnmowers. Those were gas fueled, where you had metal arm and on end of it were razors. According to instruction one shouldn’t use it too frequently, as there were vibrations, that hurt muscles. We took turn in cutting, one hour each. Weather was nice, cut grass had its rural smell. Time went fast.

After lunch we started experiments and cultivation training, magic abilities training. Seven of us had lightning ability, so we put our focus on that aspect. We experimented with charging metal objects. When we didn’t shoot lightnings, just moved charge into metal pipe it started magnetic field around it. It wasn’t normal magnetic field as it didn’t attract other metal objects. It made metal objects setting themselves along circle, where pipe was in the center. Effect took less than a minute and then charged pipe went back to normal state. We could feel charged object, when we were close to it. Even those, that didn’t have lightning ability. It really made lightning users easier to charge themselves when they were near charged metal pipe. We tried to pass charge to one another directly, but it didn’t work. Our bodies treated those attempt as intrusion. But after charging metal pipe one could suck big part of that charge without repercussions. We were left to our own devices as Elders were helping with training of freezing and wind sphere. We had many metal objects we could use as plows, harrows, metal plates used as roof tiles and pipes and poles. We built metal shed with partial roof, that was put on wood and rubber foundation to block charge from escaping to ground. One person was sitting inside, others were charging metal objects, that surrounded that person. One could overcharged himself that way and shoot mega lightning into sky. Then another could try. We had limited strength to charge that shed. Last two people in queue wasn’t benefitting the same amount like earlier users. It was true, that we benefited, each of us, from those exercises with overcharging. Our control and power over lightning was growing. We met with Elders in the early evening and discussed our findings. They praised us, as it was first cultivation chamber, that was created. We talked about strategy, if we wanted invest in one person till he or she would go to minor completion, or if we would take turns. We wanted to try turns at least for one day and then, if nothing would happen, we would switch for working on one of us, till minor completion.

In the evening Elders prepared big fire event. It was kind of rural custom to fire big bonfires in the beginning of spring to burn some filthiness, that survived under snow and coldness. Spring started some time ago, but he didn’t have fire yet, said Nameless. We had lot of dried grass, some tree was cut down, we had some stored dry wood. On the top of the hill, we created four main, big fireplaces and some smaller around. We went to forest for wood too. It was getting dark, when we put prepared wood on fire. At the beginning flames didn’t reach too high. With time and wood put into fire four main fires burned over two meters high. There was area in between them, where it was really hot and plasma users were trying to cultivate. It really worked for them as they easily created many plasma balls and sent those into sky. It worked less for their hair, as hot ashes in air were burning miniscule bits of it, but those side effects we saw only in following morning. Eva had it worst visible, because she had long hairs. I as friction control user was trying to cultivate too. Control of smoke was basic training exercise, but when smoke was really hot it was hard to achieve. Those with freezing ability tried it too. Their side effect was, that they were getting hot lot faster during cultivation, that others. Sucked warmness made them hotter. Somehow fire didn’t help cultivate wind sphere users. Hot air went up over their control.

Besides plasma users, rest of us started to enjoy evening and night. We ate dinner. Sung some songs. Talked some stories and looked into fire. Human beings have attraction to fire. We can watch flames for hours. Close presence of fire in the night feels magical. You want to be close, but not too close. It helps and threatens at the same time. Big fire that is defying darkness wakes up something in you, something ancient, something primal. Then you are getting used to presence of fire. Fire that is bound to help you. People even talk differently in that presence. Fire is indestructible. You can only extinguish it by separating it from elements he eats, carbon and oxide. His only weakness is, that he is closely bound to them. I had second thoughts. I learned friction control, but Elders told me, that most likely it blocks learning plasma ball. They weren’t sure completely, but no one learned two abilities, that were said to block each other out. I longed for fire. I was copying Nameless in my magic abilities as he seemed to be one with plan in every circumstances, so I assumed, that he had plan for magic abilities too. I saw, that two of our newbies that have lightning ability were interested in plasma after that evening.

Late in night, when fire almost burned out nameless started story. It was stupid story. During talking he grabbed embers and hot ashes with shovel and made path out of it. Story was from more than ten years ago when in Poland were in fashion some bio energo focus pocus. That fashion didn’t amount to much, but he said, that in his village during some summer festival was show with walking on embers and any courageous one could participate. Half of youth in that village participated. First one needs to water feet. Then he walks on embers. Then he washes feet again. Human soles, Nameless said, are durable enough to walk on tiny embers of burned wood. Only problem is, when some ember sticks between your toes or between embers is some hot metal fragment. Only soles are immune to fire. And only if you walked on them a lot in your life. Then you could do that.

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He went on ember path with his naked feet. Path had six to eight meters and was really hot with some very small flames still going.

-= Who is next? – He asked.

Few of us were ready to try. They went through yelling some victory yells, when they did. Some others joined, me included. In the end we all went through. Some few times. There were little burns between toes when some were unlucky or too cocky, but overall it was magic show incarnated. It was something, that showed, that some believes we had in our heads were outdated. I felt changed after.

-= Do you know more tricks or shows with fire? – I asked Nameless. He was grinning and had fun all evening.

-= No. But my grandma could pull out burning log from stove with naked hand.

-= You’re joking?

-= No. She was farmer wife and worked much with her hands. Skin was unusually thick on her hands. – He was gesticulating. – She pulled them like that.

-= Wow, I don’t know, what to say. Can I ask you something?

-= Shoot.

-= Why did you choose friction control over plasma ball?

-= Oh, you chose the same, right?

-= Yes.

-= Friction seemed as more basic, fundamental effect from my knowledge about physics. Also I didn’t want to have two offensive abilities.

-= That’s all?

-= Not really, when you think about it. – He looked at me. – Friction control can be used and trained much easier than plasma ball. It is less showy, but gives much in return.

-= Maybe you’re right.

-= If you don’t feel convinced, just change it.

-= It’s not that I’m not convinced, I just need to think it over.

-= You’re the boss. – He smiled. – Over your life.

Sometimes I didn’t believe, that we were chosen to supervise them and act, if they lost control over bloodthirsty instincts. Guy was enjoying himself as if world beyond that village didn’t exist. I wouldn’t guess, that he could be dangerous. But he said it himself. There would be moment, when things would go down. I needed to remember that.

POV Diana, head of Revengers

I had full fridge. Revengers idolized me. One let me bit him a little from time to time. Things went good. It wasn’t enough. Late at night I had urge for blood and destruction. I sneaked away then and searched for victim. Not every night I was successful. I wasn’t so desperate as to attack , when risk was involved. It wasn’t coming from hunger. It was the same urge cat had, when he was toying with living mouse. Because wild cats torture and kill animals for fun too. Scientists, that wanted to show that animals wasn’t so bad explained, that it was needed for practice. I thanked them, because I felt they were trying to excuse me too.

It was ancient instinct to hunt, that my Ahriman’s seed somehow awaken in me. I felt completed when I found victim, wrested hands and legs from joints and watched last moments. Before I even talked with my victims and inflicted some psychological damage, but no more. I just wanted them to be in pain. I didn’t have anything to talk with them. I knew, that I was descending into some counter-useful place in my head. I didn’t care.

Something was happening with me. It was to blame for sure. I accelerated arrangements for attack on another slave market. I hoped, that bloodbath we would have there would calm me down for some time. Otherwise, I felt, I would start making risky decisions. I was sane enough to notice, that I didn’t want that.

I asked it, why was it putting me at risk. It said, that I started to rely on my cultists too much. It didn’t like it. It wanted me to be solitary bloodthirsty creature. Or at least as fraudulent queen, that used everybody around. Otherwise it deemed me weak and weakness needed to be purged out. I felt wronged by that view, but I was lacking control over myself. I couldn’t do much against it.

POV Oldman

I couldn’t leave case of Diana on shelf. I contacted some friends in police forces to warn them against her. I couldn’t tell them much, but surely they heard anger and bitterness in my voice. They would understand, that I knew but couldn’t prove. If they would get some info, I was sure, they would call me.

I also contacted greyer general. I described Diana as some outsider from group that had access to bio-stones. She was out there to hunt her and took over her bio-stone, because she was criminal. That and prospect of another source for producing medicine gave them motivation.

I did all of that, but anger didn’t lesser. I had talk with huntress, that informed me, that Diana was strongest of hosts on the same level of growth. She was some kind of freak, but she wasn’t explained why and how. She told me, that after they would deal with Vivaldi, they could help me. She saw I wanted to find Diana and bring her to justice. I asked for another magic ability, that could help me deal with her. It was friction or sonic boom. I chose friction first. I didn’t have strength yet for sonic boom.

I saw, that Devas were helping but only to some extent. I wondered, if I would became like that with time. If I would then I would. If I could get Diana before, I would be glad to fate. I was detective. I could find her. She would be close to some miserable occurrences. I felt I knew her type. I was mad nobody put her down yet. As she couldn’t live in normal society. Or so I thought.